Comics once again feel Death’s sting

SPOILER WARNING: In “Fantastic Four” No. 587, one of Marvel Comics’ oldest heroes, the Human Torch, has died. He was 50, though he looked to be in his mid-20s — comic book time is a funny, fickle thing. Jim Collins of JC’s Comic Stop provides commentary on this most unsettling demise.

“It seems once again the ‘dead’ bug has struck the comic world and it seems only fair that the Torch was the one to die this time,” he said. “We’ve already had to endure the deaths of Mr. Fantastic, the Thing and the Invisible Woman … and what do those three have in common? They all came back. What I’m getting at is, in due time, Johnny Storm will be back in all his flaming glory. Next month’s ‘Fantastic Four’ No. 588 will be the final issue of the current series, with a new series named just ‘FF’ starting the following month.”

Of late, comic character deaths have lasted an average of two years, Batman and Captain America being two recent examples.

SPOILER WARNING: In lighter news, more death. She was 69 but looked 90.

“I’m looking forward to ‘Life with Archie: The Married Life’ No. 7,” Collins said. “The previous issue featured the death of longtime teacher Miss Grundy; we had just seen her marry Principal Weatherbee issues earlier, but it was revealed she had cancer and was not long for this earth. Now the gang from Riverdale and Weatherbee must move forward in their adult lives without someone who was a very important part of it. This book isn’t your father’s ‘Archie’ because they face real problems like those of us in the real world. If you’re looking for something different out there, give this a try.”

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